This manual outlines a coding system for the categorization of social action performed in talking, in the context of mother-infant interaction. The system, constructed for investigating the acquisition of language for social-communicative purposes, codes talk on two levels: the single utterance, and the interchange. Both kinds of units are defined…

This paper begins with a literature review of the objectives of general education, giving special consideration to the possible role of communications skills. Because of current discussion and disagreement about what the basic general education requirements of a university should include, a survey was administered in 1981-82 to full-time faculty…

Instances of toddlers practicing the art of negotiation while playing with peers in a family day care setting are recounted as part of a child caregiver's search for the sources of her skill in influencing children's verbal behavior. The search led to reflection on experiences in college classes on child development, at work teaching, and at home…

Silent students are often actively involved in classroom learning despite appearances to the contrary, and teachers can use special instructional strategies to guide them to overt participation. Students with "communication apprehension" are often assumed to have low intelligence, but they may suffer instead from shyness, various…

Interactions between teachers and multiply disabled students were videotaped, and procedures were developed to analyze the interactions, in order to assist the teachers in evaluating the relationship between their own and their student's communicative behavior. Coding categories were prepared to identify characteristics of the student's…

One hundred interactions involving 4,231 communicative acts between classroom personnel and multiply disabled students were videotaped. The resulting data were coded and analyzed, and showed that: (1) conventional communicative forms (e.g., speech, manual signs, conventional nonverbal expressions) were selected to convey information to students…

In an effort to describe the linguistic relational categories used by elementary school children, 75 children in grades one through six were asked to complete a puzzle by placing each of three identical triangles on a drawing of a fish, one on the dorsal, one on the ventral, and one on the tail. A piece of Velcro was attached to the back of two…

A pilot study of discourse in a practicum reading class for instruction in English as a second language examines miscommunication between non-native English speakers. Teachers and their students read transcripts of episodes from classroom discussions and wrote line-by-line analyses of what they understood was being said. Similarities and…

In a comparison of the melodies in the speech of Mandarin Chinese and Caucasian American mothers, striking similarities were found: (1) in the overall distribution and average structure of melodic contours; (2) in close contextual links to given forms of intuitive parental care; and (3) in a tendency to neglect lexical tones in favor of pitch…

The effects of instructional guides and a wait time feedback device (called a "Wait Timer") on the classroom interaction of middle school science teachers are examined. The Wait Timer, an unobtrusive indicator of wait time, is an automatic device that activates a light when a person speaks. The duration of the light at the end of a…

A comparative test of communication effectiveness between written and graphic communication. (CH)

Evidence indicates that a significant number of medical students have pervasive communication problems that affect their interaction with patients, faculty, clinical associates, and hospital staff. This paper describes the dynamics of the communication syndrome (clinically identified as "reticence"), discusses the manifestations and…

This study investigates the pattern of teacher questioning regarding three elements: sequence, student respondent, and cognitive process. The rationale for this type of teaching rests on the claims for teaching students the process of critical (reflective) thinking. In this type of teaching it is necessary to have data before the students. Only…

The ability to "image," or to conjure up verbal and nonverbal pictures, is fundamental to language arts activities. This paper lists eight imaging skills, which involve attention to details, sizes, multiple images, viewpoint, lighting, perspective, emotions, and structure, and suggests that each of these skills may be taught in conjunction with…

In several studies of experimental interviewing techniques and their effect on reporting behavior described in this publication, an attempt is made to identify the elements of the interview process that are potential sources for improving data collection. Methodological studies designed to test the effectiveness of certain questionnaire designs…